Sheffield Moor Market

About The Project

Like so many high streets across the country, store closures had a detrimental impact on The Moor - a retail area, located south west of Sheffield City Centre. To revitalise the area, Sheffield Council proposed a retail-led regeneration scheme, with direct links to the City Centre through the creation of pleasant and safe pedestrian routes and points of transport access.

The Brief

This proposal was distinctive, as most developments are designed around an anchor store but the plan was to create a new market for Sheffield, right at the heart of the regeneration scheme. Working with Leslie Jones Architects, B&K Structures’ brief for the market, was to create a new iconic shopping destination. The new Moor Market was the only purpose-built market hall to be constructed in 2012/13.

B&K Structures proposed an optimised hybrid solution to create a distinctive building. Inspired by classic European markets, the design was a modern interpretation of these traditional buildings. By using engineered timber to dramatic effect, particularly at the entrance, where an impressive gridshell structure welcomes visitors, B&K Structures designed a building to deliver a positive impact on the local community and city skyline.

Key Challenges

Working on the constricted inner-city site presented challenges. To minimise deliveries and disruption to the area and to maximise the speed of build, offsite construction methods were fully utilised. A detailed logistics plan had to be developed prior to the start of the contract design, as the restricted site had an impact on the length of the structural members.

The Solution

A glulam and steel hybrid structure was designed for the undercover market area with exposed tree columns and roof lights to gain natural daylight. The entrance to the market creates visual impact and is formed from a curved gridshell structure that offers aesthetic appeal both inside and outside the market area.

The glulam beams, complete with resin embedded steel rods were manufactured offsite and brought to site for rapid connection. Embedded rod connections were used to enhance visual impact at the steel nodes. BIM modelling ensured the individual elements of the hybrid structure could be installed both accurately and efficiently.